title: Utility and limitations of Spa-typing in understanding the epidemiology of Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia isolates in a single University Hospital.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Staphylococcus aureus (SA) is a recognized cause of nosocomial infections with 8,767 SA bacteraemia (SAB) cases reported in England only in 2012. Different typing methods have been developed but they are not generally performed as a routine investigation in hospital laboratories.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We collected epidemiological data and spa-typed all SAB isolates over a 12 months period. Spa-typing was useful to detect two potential outbreaks of methicillin-sensitive SA (MSSA). In addition, the analysis of spa-types from individuals with multiple bacteriaemias helped to distinguish between relapse and re-infection.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Spa-typing could be used as a rapid tool to understand the epidemiology of SAB, in particular the detection of hospital clusters and to distinguish relapse from re-infection, but clinicians should be aware of its possible limitations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology, Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK. Giovanni.satta@nhs.net.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Satta
authors.forename: Clare Louise
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Ling
authors.forename: Emma Shelley
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Cunningham
authors.forename: Timothy Daniel
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: McHugh
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hopkins
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016470:Bacteremia / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006785:Hospitals, University / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D055815:Young Adult